Karl Martino, Philadelphia, PA, USA

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Blogs that deal with mental illness

My wife, Richelle, has been encouraging me to talk more about Mom, including here on the blog. I don’t talk about her that much because I have yet to find the words that can adequately express my childhood, but I grew up with a mother who wrestled with a condition called “Schizoaffective Disorder”. I can go into detail about how the disease affected her reasoning and capacity to deal with day to day life, maybe one day I will, but for now, it probably says much by simply indicating that she was aware she had a problem, she sought out help, and that it was episodic, and that those episodes could be heart rendering.

It’s scary talking about such subject matter, many are dealing with such issues in our lives, in our families, and feel forced to conceal such knowledge from others for fear of how it will reflect.

That’s why blogs that talk about mental illness are so important. They are few and far between. And some face insurmountable pressure to represent the views of one establishment or another.

I want to mention two blogs that are worthy of your RSS reader:

Furious Seasons: Ran by a journalist, and psych patient Philip Dawdy, Furious Seasons wrestles with the ongoing, terrible state of psychiatric care.

The Trouble With Spikol: Ran by executive editor of the Philadelphia Weekly, Liz Spikol documents her fight against her illness and her takes on all matters that strike her to write.

Of course I’m biased due to the experience of growing up with Mom, but both these blogs stand as the most courageous I have encountered on the Web.

You know you are dealing with these issues in your life somewhere. Subscribe. Read. Relate. Maybe even comment.

Hi Stephany, thanks for stopping by. You have a terrific blog as well. I recognize I have a responsibility I have been dodging. It is difficult and I know you understand. One day at a time I guess. Small steps as my friend Albert would say.

Hi, thanks about my blog. I write about my daughter (youngest of 3 who is 20yrs old). She has been in and out of hospitals for 3 years and now has a SZ dx, besides autism. I do understand.
I feel it is only what you can handle, as far as responsibility goes, for me, writing has been therapeutic; it became a place for me to put all of this, and get the pain out. You might feel the same way.

You know, it’s rare to find anyone who knows anything about schizoaffective disorder. I’ve only been diagnosed with it for a short while, and it’s a difficult disease to say you have because people automatically think you’re totally off your rocker because it starts with schizo.

Hi Janet, I’ve found that whenever I bring up mom’s diagnosis, the reaction is filled with pretty understandable misunderstandings. I think yr right about the name starting with ‘schizo’ as being a cause. People have so many misconceptions about these diagnosis.

You have my respect in dealing with what you are dealing with. It takes courage – my mom taught me a lot about that growing up. You have heart.

Likewise Stephany. You’re dealing with this from the other side of things. Kinda similar to my own, instead of it being from a child to an adult, it being from a parent to their child. I can’t imagine what that is like, but in a real way, I can relate.